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Apr 30, 2014 10:17 PM

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Boombawks said:
It seems this is the most liked show this season, that makes it #108 material? Lol
It's good but not that good, people are going overboard on this, heading to overhyped-waters.


I didn't realize it was so well-liked. Wow. I mean, it has its' moments, but four episodes in and I'm still not sure whether I like it or just think it's 'meh.' It has some good funny moments in it and some exciting scenes, but it gets on my nerves at times.

The main problem I have with it is that the whole theme, and at this point I'm pretty convinced it's becoming a theme, about believing in the power of humanity is pretty stupid. To place it in a real, world context, try the following example: re-watch the show and then replace "humanity" with any racial group or nation from the real world. Even if you choose your own I think you'd be hard-pressed not to admit that the main character has a slightly supremacist and/or self-centered attitude. Or just re-watch it and swap the words "humans" and "elves" (and try to imagine all the human characters with big pointy ears). I'll bet most people would get a little irritated with the (now elf) main character's insistence that the elves will rise up and crush humanity along with all those other races.

They're weak and downtrodden? I don't care. This is obviously not about them escaping the boot-heel of oppression; it's about them beating the shit out of the other races. The conversation with God makes it very clear that world conquest is what the main characters are after. The fact that they're weak and downtrodden, like the fact that they're 'humans' and not gigantic balls of slime or something, is just a way of encouraging the obviously human viewer to be sympathetic and root for them. At least there's no actual war due to the whole "everything is resolved by games" arrangement.

That said, Sora's point about the advantage in being the weakest is a pretty good one. Or, at the very least, it's as good a point as the whole "this is what happens when you back somebody into a corner" line from Shiro during the chess match, because it's exactly the same point. I get the sense that he's in part referring to magical ability, but it still doesn't make sense to say that 'being the weakest' is some special characteristic of humanity. It's just a temporary state of affairs since they're actually in the weakest position; once they've conquered ten or twelve of the other races (which I'm sure will happen, even if the anime does not cover up to that point, since the main characters are humans), some other group will be the weakest and will have the advantage that comes from being motivated by desperation.
Apr 30, 2014 10:34 PM

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Seriously, Sora is probably going to get me fired up with every epic speech he makes.




Apr 30, 2014 10:43 PM

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This episode was just boss. I don't know how to describe. This moment of glory for the Blanks is just pure awesome. They finally become King and Queen. The girl though (the blue haired one). It was hilarious when she started crying and acted like a real girl. Just loved that part. This is starting to become even more exciting than I have imagined. The two of them now declares war on every other country~ oh em gee. Then Tet "The One True God" pops out of nowhere and tells those two that if they beat every other country thats designed as a chess board, then they can come to a position to even challenge god himself (though they already beat him in chess once). I can't wait till next episode when things start to get into action. This episode deserved a 5/5 for being so inspiring. Both to Imanity and those that watch this show.
"No one knows what the future holds. That's why its potential is infinite.” - Okabe Rintarou

"El Psy Congroo."

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Apr 30, 2014 10:54 PM
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opondica said:
Boombawks said:
It seems this is the most liked show this season, that makes it #108 material? Lol
It's good but not that good, people are going overboard on this, heading to overhyped-waters.


I didn't realize it was so well-liked. Wow. I mean, it has its' moments, but four episodes in and I'm still not sure whether I like it or just think it's 'meh.' It has some good funny moments in it and some exciting scenes, but it gets on my nerves at times.

The main problem I have with it is that the whole theme, and at this point I'm pretty convinced it's becoming a theme, about believing in the power of humanity is pretty stupid. To place it in a real, world context, try the following example: re-watch the show and then replace "humanity" with any racial group or nation from the real world. Even if you choose your own I think you'd be hard-pressed not to admit that the main character has a slightly supremacist and/or self-centered attitude. Or just re-watch it and swap the words "humans" and "elves" (and try to imagine all the human characters with big pointy ears). I'll bet most people would get a little irritated with the (now elf) main character's insistence that the elves will rise up and crush humanity along with all those other races.

They're weak and downtrodden? I don't care. This is obviously not about them escaping the boot-heel of oppression; it's about them beating the shit out of the other races. The conversation with God makes it very clear that world conquest is what the main characters are after. The fact that they're weak and downtrodden, like the fact that they're 'humans' and not gigantic balls of slime or something, is just a way of encouraging the obviously human viewer to be sympathetic and root for them. At least there's no actual war due to the whole "everything is resolved by games" arrangement.

That said, Sora's point about the advantage in being the weakest is a pretty good one. Or, at the very least, it's as good a point as the whole "this is what happens when you back somebody into a corner" line from Shiro during the chess match, because it's exactly the same point. I get the sense that he's in part referring to magical ability, but it still doesn't make sense to say that 'being the weakest' is some special characteristic of humanity. It's just a temporary state of affairs since they're actually in the weakest position; once they've conquered ten or twelve of the other races (which I'm sure will happen, even if the anime does not cover up to that point, since the main characters are humans), some other group will be the weakest and will have the advantage that comes from being motivated by desperation.


When he says humans are the weakest, I think he's talking about everything except intellect. Having a weaker body for the actual warfare in the past, not having magic, etc. Not relying on these things makes other abilities strong in the same way the blind are forced to develop their other senses out of necessity. I'm thinking our intellect is our linchpin. Could be wrong, though. One of the other races has a lust for knowledge, books or something along those lines.

I have a number of problems with the series but not with the racial and conquest encouraging themes you mentioned. People have been telling the "humans vs. other species" story forever. It's an easy way for writers to sprinkle glitter on something that may be off putting to people. Replace 1 side of humans with an opponent we won't have the same qualms about fighting. It's a cop out and probably diminishes the work in most occurrences. However, I don't think they are masking some support of conquest or racial hatred. I'm more inclined to say they did it to make sure they didn't seem to be making that case.

Then again, Sora did decide on conquering other races pretty fucking easily.
Apr 30, 2014 11:22 PM

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I think the battle to become king could be more interesting
but they made a great speech later, and shown that they can be real rulers
and to finish yet charted a new goal: to conquer the world and win God
the plot is getting better ..
________

acho que a batalha para se tornar rei poderia ser mais interessante
mas eles fizeram um ótimo discurso depois, e mostraram que podem ser verdadeiros governantes
e para terminar ainda traçaram um novo objetivo: conquistar o mundo e vencer Deus
o enredo está cada vez melhor ..
May 1, 2014 12:09 AM
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So what exactly "killed" the girl's king?
May 1, 2014 12:15 AM
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skudoops said:
So what exactly "killed" the girl's king?


You mean grandfather or father? The one Stephanie is talking with this ep's flashback is her father. I haven't read the LN so I hope someone else helps us.
May 1, 2014 12:16 AM

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I don't really know why the king just randomly died....but the rest of the episode was very solid, and sets up the rest of the series, which we probably won't get to see entirely animated unless its a hit, which seems likely...

It has a huge sense of fun! No where near best show of the season level, but still a very fun one, that looks to have some interesting things to do. Plus the speech was awesome!
May 1, 2014 12:16 AM
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mbdsquad said:
skudoops said:
So what exactly "killed" the girl's king?


You mean grandfather or father? The one Stephanie is talking with this ep's flashback is her father. I haven't read the LN so I hope someone else helps us.


Nah I meant in the chess game but your question is valid to. Judging by what he said though it seems that people would just die of old age in that world. I remember him mentioning one of the races had "longevity" which implies that the others get old and die fairly quickly.
May 1, 2014 12:21 AM
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skudoops said:
mbdsquad said:
skudoops said:
So what exactly "killed" the girl's king?


You mean grandfather or father? The one Stephanie is talking with this ep's flashback is her father. I haven't read the LN so I hope someone else helps us.


Nah I meant in the chess game but your question is valid to. Judging by what he said though it seems that people would just die of old age in that world. I remember him mentioning one of the races had "longevity" which implies that the others get old and die fairly quickly.


The violet haired girl's king died because it was assassinated by one of its own pieces. Sora explained that rulers of the past that resorted in violence, oppression and dictatorship ends up being assassinated by its own followers, not the enemy's.
May 1, 2014 12:26 AM

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Another amazing episode, and it's already over too fast. Just can't get enough of the beautiful fantasy world and characters, especially Stephanie. This show better get a second season lot of seasons.
May 1, 2014 12:27 AM
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mbdsquad said:
skudoops said:
mbdsquad said:
skudoops said:
So what exactly "killed" the girl's king?


You mean grandfather or father? The one Stephanie is talking with this ep's flashback is her father. I haven't read the LN so I hope someone else helps us.


Nah I meant in the chess game but your question is valid to. Judging by what he said though it seems that people would just die of old age in that world. I remember him mentioning one of the races had "longevity" which implies that the others get old and die fairly quickly.


The violet haired girl's king died because it was assassinated by one of its own pieces. Sora explained that rulers of the past that resorted in violence, oppression and dictatorship ends up being assassinated by its own followers, not the enemy's.


Oh, he mentioned a non combatant normally did it so I was wondering what the hell. They also didn't show any pieces move or anything so it was really odd.
May 1, 2014 12:38 AM
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Hey the whole chess-themed game has a real life example which cloud be used to show connections of Earth's history with the game in ep 3 and 4.

We had WWI in which we had Russia fighting against Germany & Austria-Hungary. It was a long and hard war in which Germans managed to hold off the wast Russian numbers again and again with some technological or tactical inspiration. Then on 1917 the Russian Revolution came (anybody notice how the Queen and her forces became RED?) and soon the Russian royal family was shot to death (AKA game over for good for Imperial Russia) - naturally in Reality this was followed by a civil war but the world of NGNL is a lot more peaceful and it all happened in the game so it was not taken as serious as in reality with the defeat of the King being the defeat of Blank's enemy.
May 1, 2014 12:40 AM

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opondica said:


I actually quite like the fact that he is going for world conquest. Id like to see more anime like that, I mean in this anime its pretty harmless since its decided by games, but Id like to see more anime where the MC tries to conquer the world in the real world for example. Weve had enough anime with honorable and good MC, why not have a vew evil MC and have them conquer the world, with all the dirtying your hands involved in it.

As for the humans being the weakest part, they always will be the weakest. That ranking isnt decided by the amount of territory they have but by their magical and physical abilities I believe. Since humans arent particularly strong nor can they use any magic at all, they would be considered the weakest even if they owned the whole world. Unless they then changed the rules this ranking is based on.

As for myself I also think its pretty overhyped. I mean I enjoy it a lot, but its very much style and no substance. Its not bothering me too much and I am still enjoying it, but the people are overdoing it in singing the show its praises.

mbdsquad said:


Nah the King wasnt assassinated by a piece on the field, that death was to simulate treason by poison or something similar, styles of assassination that where often used by noncombatants, aka not the soldiers. Thats why it just cracked wiithout anyone touching it, since it was killed by someone not even on the field.

A bit of an asspull if you ask me, but hey that chessgame had nothing left to do with actual chess anyway.

Mod Edit: Modified quote tower; please spoiler or remove old quotes. Merged duplicated posts; please use the edit button.
ZelotMay 5, 2014 7:39 AM
May 1, 2014 12:45 AM
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im loving this series gives me chills every episode
Ezsence
May 1, 2014 12:45 AM

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Definitely another great episode.
May 1, 2014 12:45 AM
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baki502 said:
mbdsquad said:
skudoops said:
mbdsquad said:
skudoops said:
So what exactly "killed" the girl's king?


You mean grandfather or father? The one Stephanie is talking with this ep's flashback is her father. I haven't read the LN so I hope someone else helps us.


Nah I meant in the chess game but your question is valid to. Judging by what he said though it seems that people would just die of old age in that world. I remember him mentioning one of the races had "longevity" which implies that the others get old and die fairly quickly.


The violet haired girl's king died because it was assassinated by one of its own pieces. Sora explained that rulers of the past that resorted in violence, oppression and dictatorship ends up being assassinated by its own followers, not the enemy's.


Nah the King wasnt assassinated by a piece on the field, that death was to simulate treason by poison or something similar, styles of assassination that where often used by noncombatants, aka not the soldiers. Thats why it just cracked wiithout anyone touching it, since it was killed by someone not even on the field.

A bit of an asspull if you ask me, but hey that chessgame had nothing left to do with actual chess anyway.


Thanks. That makes more sense.
May 1, 2014 1:03 AM

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Woah! This anime gets the gold!

Those Phoenix Wright references! That double objection!
That epic speech! Then the epic 3 day battle for King!
Yeah Imanity may be the weakest of the 16 clans, but they once ruled even when the Game rules weren't in place. Now that they are, its like a level playing field.

How bad ass is the nonchalance of Shiroe and Sora's explanation to Steph as to why they declared war on the other races.

Bring on next week already!!!!
HESTIAAPPROVES
May 1, 2014 1:29 AM

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legitimately one of the worst anime i have seen. so, naturally, it's almost in MAL's top 100.
May 1, 2014 1:36 AM
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So they are trying to conquer the world now? Interesting...
May 1, 2014 2:01 AM
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NO GAME NO LIFE EPISODE 4
Man this episode is so cool, reminds me Lelouch
May 1, 2014 2:34 AM

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That speech was pretty epic.
May 1, 2014 2:37 AM

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I swear the creators must be fans of the AA series ;) Another awesome episode. Loved the chess and now I'm really curious what other twists are going to be in the rest of the games. 5/5
May 1, 2014 3:17 AM

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I can't believe this has gotten so good, also Sora; he has everything I could dislike in a human but recently, I am growing fond of him...

10/10
May 1, 2014 3:19 AM
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Stephanie is so annoying... overall really good episode! 10/10
May 1, 2014 4:42 AM
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Cheesekao said:
Nidhoeggr said:
DenjaX said:
Who assassinated the king?


Horrible writing.

Didn't you already drop this like last week? Why bother since it's clearly not a show for you?


You have to be rather infatuated with the show to not see it's weaknesses. Someone who just liked the things it does well could still spot them a mile away.

You have an invisible assassin who pops out of nowhere and kills the enemies king just when the protagonist is about to lose. That's a pretty bad deus ex machina.

I'm still waiting for the supposedly good games that people who have read the books says will come, but I was mostly skipping through the episode.

And they broke the metarules again. (no robbery) Which is fine, this is clearly the sort of show that puts the rules of cool before internal consistency.

Nidhoeggr said:

people who actually use the scale as intended


Who had said intention?

jiraiya_sensei said:
It seems to me the Imanity in that world all has the IQ of a prepubescent child at best.


It's just the trick of making someone look good by making everyone else bad. And far from the worst case. It's been mentioned before, so there is really no need to go on about it.



opondica said:

To place it in a real, world context, try the following example: re-watch the show and then replace "humanity" with any racial group or nation from the real world.


No, this shows target audience isn't like that. Your sensibilities are too American.

What you should replace it with is 'otaku'. See how it makes sense from that perspective?
May 1, 2014 5:30 AM

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I want an episode devoted to comedy pweese. xD The comedy in this is awesome. xD
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May 1, 2014 5:39 AM

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Josl said:
DenjaX said:
Anyone can tell me how did the king die through assassination? I don't quite get that part.

Who assassinated the king?


Here should all be explained

So in other words, it's an asspull in their game but explained through common occurrences in history... Okay >.> It's a game.. Idk why they have to pull that off. Red queen faction defeating the king would have made more sense...

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May 1, 2014 5:47 AM
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DenjaX said:
So in other words, it's an asspull in their game but explained through common occurrences in history... Okay >.> It's a game.. Idk why they have to pull that off. Red queen faction defeating the king would have made more sense...

Because she was using brainwashing magic. There was no way for any figure to touch one of the black figures without turning into a black figure.
May 1, 2014 6:08 AM
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DenjaX said:

So in other words, it's an asspull in their game but explained through common occurrences in history... Okay >.> It's a game.. Idk why they have to pull that off. Red queen faction defeating the king would have made more sense...


That what Josl said but it goes further:

The red faction originally was part of Clammy's army but it defected and went against Clammy, while not being part of Sora's and Shiro's army. That encouraged the other pieces to try and break free of Clammy's reign.
At that moment Clammy started attacking her former own pieces (the red faction); because of her iron reign (the elf magic) nobody could go against her orders but at the same time sth else happened.
The moment Clammy ordered her forces to attack their former allies (who were allowed to form a force on their own, hence negating any thoughts about Sora being a bad king or tyran) their anger about Clammy reached its climax.

That was also stated in the anime, whenever a tyran fights against his own people, he was swiftly assasinated by someone, mostly from the shadows.

To get to the point her whole fault was to attack her former pieces openly; at that moment the fear of her people (the inhabitants of her land) was not enough to contain their anger about her reign, hence she was killed.

People really need to let their thinking go that this was chess; it was a simulator for being king/queen and Clammy lost because she reigned with tyranny.
May 1, 2014 6:24 AM

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Caleb8980 said:
DenjaX said:

So in other words, it's an asspull in their game but explained through common occurrences in history... Okay >.> It's a game.. Idk why they have to pull that off. Red queen faction defeating the king would have made more sense...


That what Josl said but it goes further:

The red faction originally was part of Clammy's army but it defected and went against Clammy, while not being part of Sora's and Shiro's army. That encouraged the other pieces to try and break free of Clammy's reign.
At that moment Clammy started attacking her former own pieces (the red faction); because of her iron reign (the elf magic) nobody could go against her orders but at the same time sth else happened.
The moment Clammy ordered her forces to attack their former allies (who were allowed to form a force on their own, hence negating any thoughts about Sora being a bad king or tyran) their anger about Clammy reached its climax.

That was also stated in the anime, whenever a tyran fights against his own people, he was swiftly assasinated by someone, mostly from the shadows.

To get to the point her whole fault was to attack her former pieces openly; at that moment the fear of her people (the inhabitants of her land) was not enough to contain their anger about her reign, hence she was killed.

People really need to let their thinking go that this was chess; it was a simulator for being king/queen and Clammy lost because she reigned with tyranny.

Even though I don't find this series as great as others seem to, I did in fact like how the chess game was played out from a real world perspective. Especially since that's how rulers tend to be albeit just not in a ridiculous way.
"A cruel world is not without it's beauty, and many times a select few find it by mistake. Only then do those select few see the world for what it is... A disastrous masterpiece." ~ 7thVoid

"Hates a river that only flows down." ~ 7thVoid
May 1, 2014 6:55 AM

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became the new king and gonna become god. all for the purpose of trollin the shit outta every one
"Urushibara Ruka. The mannerisms and voice of a woman... No... More feminine than any woman. But he's a guy. Taller than Mayuri, but so very thin... But he's a guy. Looks great in a miko outfit... But he's a guy. It's already twilight And yet, it's so hot. The cicadas are crying. But... He's a guy."
May 1, 2014 7:17 AM

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Caleb8980 said:

People really need to let their thinking go that this was chess; it was a simulator for being king/queen and Clammy lost because she reigned with tyranny.


I think the fact that it wasn't a regular chess game is the least of its problem. The biggest flaw is that Kurami prepared the game and thus she must have known that it's basically a war simulator but for one reason or another she neither prepare sufficient tactic nor was prepared that her opponent might rally his/her troops and turn the tide of the battle. It could be that she was too confident that magic can defeat everything but come on, she literally lived her entire life time playing games due to the nature of her world. You'd think that she'd at least prepare herself as much.

Imagine if you're in Kurami's position and get to decide every rule and prepare all kinds of trickery you can use. Naturally the first thing one should do is eliminate the chance of her opponent winning as much as possible and then to prepare as many tactics and counters as possible. Kurami was so terribly unprepared that even the sight of Sora rallying his troops surprised her (it shouldn't, really).

The biggest plot hole was that she was flabbergasted when Sora doesn't wait for her turn. It's something she should've known was possible before hand when she prepared the game as evidenced by her calm demeanor when her own piece broke the rules of chess (moving 3 spots instead of 2). She also should've known that it's possible to move several pieces at once yet she didn't take this advantage from the beginning. She could easily take Sora by surprise and won the game quickly. The 2nd biggest plot hole is her contradictory political views. Right before the game, she was talking about how the elves would protect Imanity and that she wouldn't be a puppet ruler. Basically she viewed herself as a fair ruler who wouldn't oppress Imanity and instead act as a peaceful mediator between the biggest & most powerful country (say, the US) and a small country incapable of defending themselves (say, the Philippines). Why then during the game, she turned into such a cold blooded ruler who reign with terror? it's not like she doesn't know politic, does she?
MoeGodMay 1, 2014 7:23 AM
May 1, 2014 7:18 AM
*hug noises*

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31725
man this anime is just so... good :o

like seriously I haven't felt so desperate for more in ages
May 1, 2014 7:18 AM

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Next step - rule the world!

It's getting better and better with every episode. Also that Civilization reference :D
May 1, 2014 7:36 AM

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"Let's decide this through a game."

weeks later....

lol, mayybe not a good idea. Especially when Shiro and Sora are equal in skill x_x
May 1, 2014 7:40 AM

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This episode was realy good I realy liked how he won the
chess game and his speech, I cant wait for the next episode.

I just hope they will know how to develop the series.

I realy like how Stephanie is always "far behind" sora and shiro in the speed of thinking, and Intelligence.
May 1, 2014 7:41 AM

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22771
This show is fucking brilliant so far. I can't believe I almost didn't watch it just because of the ecchi tag.

Dat tie score..
The speech was kinda nice. Didn't expect him to declare war on everyone.. But at least he thought it through and didn't just declare war at random.

Can't wait for next week :)
May 1, 2014 8:06 AM

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Favourite episode so far. This series has been great at building a whole intriguing world!
May 1, 2014 8:18 AM
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jiraiya_sensei said:
Caleb8980 said:

People really need to let their thinking go that this was chess; it was a simulator for being king/queen and Clammy lost because she reigned with tyranny.


I think the fact that it wasn't a regular chess game is the least of its problem. The biggest flaw is that Kurami prepared the game and thus she must have known that it's basically a war simulator but for one reason or another she neither prepare sufficient tactic nor was prepared that her opponent might rally his/her troops and turn the tide of the battle. It could be that she was too confident that magic can defeat everything but come on, she literally lived her entire life time playing games due to the nature of her world. You'd think that she'd at least prepare herself as much.

Imagine if you're in Kurami's position and get to decide every rule and prepare all kinds of trickery you can use. Naturally the first thing one should do is eliminate the chance of her opponent winning as much as possible and then to prepare as many tactics and counters as possible. Kurami was so terribly unprepared that even the sight of Sora rallying his troops surprised her (it shouldn't, really).

The biggest plot hole was that she was flabbergasted when Sora doesn't wait for her turn. It's something she should've known was possible before hand when she prepared the game as evidenced by her calm demeanor when her own piece broke the rules of chess (moving 3 spots instead of 2). She also should've known that it's possible to move several pieces at once yet she didn't take this advantage from the beginning. She could easily take Sora by surprise and won the game quickly. The 2nd biggest plot hole is her contradictory political views. Right before the game, she was talking about how the elves would protect Imanity and that she wouldn't be a puppet ruler. Basically she viewed herself as a fair ruler who wouldn't oppress Imanity and instead act as a peaceful mediator between the biggest & most powerful country (say, the US) and a small country incapable of defending themselves (say, the Philippines). Why then during the game, she turned into such a cold blooded ruler who reign with terror? it's not like she doesn't know politic, does she?


Thx for the long answer :D

The problem is that the game needs to be winnable from an outsiders point of view, otherwise the cheating would be obvious (which was btw also stated by Sora in the third episode after they demasked the elf and let Clammy decide the game)
Hence there was only so much she could have done to the game itself before the match. She thought that it would take the Sora/Shiro pair longer to get hold of the kind of game they were playing.

Well she was flabbergasted because of how fast Sora turned the tide, not because she was surprised by the amount of turns he took, her whole exclamation just showed that she wanted time to think about her next move. To be more precise her speed of thinking couldn't hold up to Sora's.

The next point: she only moved one piece at the beginning to mask what kind of game they were playing, once again not because she didn't know she could; the whole point of that was to confuse Sora and Shiro and for Shiro's case that worked wonderfully as it was shown.
If you think about it, one would always like to have sth up in his sleeves, so she decided not to show everything from the beginning. She just didn't think that Sora would figure that out before she did it even once hence her exclamation.

Your second big plot hole is a really good one and actually the one that bugged me the most while reading the LN. There is an explanation concerning this later so this would be a spoiler but you could even see a hint of it in this episode:

When Clammy was about to lose she thought that Sora and Shiro were backed by another country, other than the elves. That made her angry AND was feared by her at the same time. She thought about how she wanted to use magic to win exactly so that she could lead Imanity to a better future but she didn't know if Sora/Shiro had the same goals as her.
If you take everything she said as true, then she didn't want to become a puppet ruler but a genuine one, hence she feared Sora and Shiro were backed by another country to become puppet rulers.

Hence she acted the way she did; she became desperate and wanted to win at all costs, which was her downfall.
May 1, 2014 8:24 AM

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May 2013
664
this show is soooo master piece

i cant believe there is only 12 episode... and the manga is only 7 chapters

and the novel is not available in my country, wah pssssss

5/5

tet scene was so awesome, i like how sora ask that through his rage of his first lost bring them here, and he said how interesting.. dam that gave me a chill

so love this
May 1, 2014 8:54 AM

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Apr 2011
4658
I still don't see how he won the "chess" game. The king decided to explode because ?...
May 1, 2014 8:56 AM

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Jul 2013
2350
Caleb8980 said:

Thx for the long answer :D

The problem is that the game needs to be winnable from an outsiders point of view, otherwise the cheating would be obvious (which was btw also stated by Sora in the third episode after they demasked the elf and let Clammy decide the game)
Hence there was only so much she could have done to the game itself before the match. She thought that it would take the Sora/Shiro pair longer to get hold of the kind of game they were playing.

Well she was flabbergasted because of how fast Sora turned the tide, not because she was surprised by the amount of turns he took, her whole exclamation just showed that she wanted time to think about her next move. To be more precise her speed of thinking couldn't hold up to Sora's.

The next point: she only moved one piece at the beginning to mask what kind of game they were playing, once again not because she didn't know she could; the whole point of that was to confuse Sora and Shiro and for Shiro's case that worked wonderfully as it was shown.
If you think about it, one would always like to have sth up in his sleeves, so she decided not to show everything from the beginning. She just didn't think that Sora would figure that out before she did it even once hence her exclamation.

Your second big plot hole is a really good one and actually the one that bugged me the most while reading the LN. There is an explanation concerning this later so this would be a spoiler but you could even see a hint of it in this episode:

When Clammy was about to lose she thought that Sora and Shiro were backed by another country, other than the elves. That made her angry AND was feared by her at the same time. She thought about how she wanted to use magic to win exactly so that she could lead Imanity to a better future but she didn't know if Sora/Shiro had the same goals as her.
If you take everything she said as true, then she didn't want to become a puppet ruler but a genuine one, hence she feared Sora and Shiro were backed by another country to become puppet rulers.

Hence she acted the way she did; she became desperate and wanted to win at all costs, which was her downfall.


That's the thing, I think she barely needed to cheat to win the game at all. That the chess wasn't following the normal rule should be obvious right away and thus her piece moving 3 boxes isn't cheating at all (and also why the referee didn't say anything). Shiro was confused because she couldn't think of a move that won't sacrifice her piece more so than the fact that it was a war game, which was made clear by Sora after Kurami made her move.

Next, while Kurami might be surprised the combo quickly figure out a counter it's still something that she should've expected as it is a matter of "when" rather than "how" right from the beginning. If she had thought that far then at least she'd have already prepared a counter and there are plenty of possibilities ranging from rallying her own troops, screaming louder than Sora (this would surely confuse Sora's troops), or the most obvious one a frontal attack while Sora was giving his speech to the troops. This would exploit the "no need to wait for your turn" that she was so surprised about and that she should've known beforehand. There's also a chance when the queen had checkmate Sora's king. Even if the queen had stopped her attack, she should've quickly ordered the remaining troops to kill the exposed king, exploiting the "pieces can move however they want" and "several pieces can move at once".

As for the 2nd point, well this is actually a flaw that many anime has. Characters tend to act out of character when dealing with threats and normally the priority is to deal with the immediate threat first and deal with whatever else later but many times they hesitate to vanquish said threats for petty reasons and ended up ruining themselves. If she truly believes that she would lead Imanity to better future, it is most pressing that she doesn't lose to Sora so her priority should be defeating Sora first. I mean think about it, whatever she thought Sora was plotting will be irrelevant as long as she remains ruler. There's also the fact that she was backed by the most powerful nation in that world and so whether Sora & Shiro was working with another country is something she could easily deal later on.
May 1, 2014 9:15 AM
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Nov 2011
28
Can someone explain to me how the kurami's king collapsed in the game? how did Sora pulled it off?

Someone might have already explained it but i'm too lazy to find it, so I'll thank anyone who replied to this in advance :)
May 1, 2014 9:39 AM

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Mar 2012
1332
Really disappointed how that chess game ended. Some big asspull and the enemy king explodes...

That speech was very nice though; and so where the games between Shiro and Sora.
May 1, 2014 10:08 AM

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Mar 2008
24335
Wow, what a 'brilliant' way to end the match. Tet/Kugimiya is the only completely likeable character so far.
May 1, 2014 10:23 AM
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Jul 2012
588
Hmm, it seems that they don't follow the novel to the finest details, which is good since there is a difference between anime and light novels.
Once again, good work Madhouse.
May 1, 2014 10:50 AM
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Apr 2014
7
Anyone feel this ep is a little rushy? I mean, yeah it's still epic but the event just rapidly popping up :<
Tthat speech + that music though :D OST of the season!


And did I just heard someone said Miyuki & Tatsuya in Mahouka are more "normal and realistic" than Sora & Shiro? :D :D :D rofl I laugh so much at that :D :D
Really, Tatsuya power is just like OnePunchMan, you come, meh, you're dead, OP as hell :D So please don't give a judge like that when the show is not over yet, Sora & Shiro have just played 3 game until now so the fact that they won every game is still acceptable
May 1, 2014 10:54 AM

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Jun 2013
1426
Williamzz said:
Can someone explain to me how the kurami's king collapsed in the game? how did Sora pulled it off?

Someone might have already explained it but i'm too lazy to find it, so I'll thank anyone who replied to this in advance :)

Lets say you have 2 nations in war. One has a king which rules by fear and oppression, forcing his army to go to war. Other one motivates his army, gives them reason to fight. Who do you thing will break? In the end, the king which rules through fear will force to much on his soldiers, so much that they will start hating him. Fear will turn into resentment, which will be returned back upon a king. Basically, they will kill him for their own good.
Ad Astra Per Aspera
May 1, 2014 11:02 AM

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Feb 2014
36
Nice episode.

I wish more chess matches were played like that then I would actually win...

Sora is a such a boss at being a king that speech . I love how he was able to motivate the people without telling them to change. And be the rise of the underdog.

Hope it keeps being AWESOME.
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